No. 17 Football Battles Gardner-Webb In NCAA Opener

Kickoff Is Slated For 3 p.m. ET On ESPN+

MACON – The 17th-ranked Mercer football team will make its first appearance in the NCAA postseason on Saturday when the Bears bunker down at home to battle Gardner-Webb. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. EST at Five Star Stadium.

The game is slated to be streamed live on ESPN+ with Jack Benjamin and Forrest Conoly handing the duties in the booth. Rick Cameron and the rest of the Mercer Sports Network will call all of the action as well, and fans can listen to that broadcast on The Creek 100.9 FM, or by visiting Sportsmic. A live statistics link is also being provided by the Mercer athletics department.

ABOUT THE GAME
Date: Saturday, November 25 Time: 3 p.m. ET Location: Macon, Ga. I Five Star Stadium TV: ESPN+ Listen Live: 100.9 The Creek I Sportsmic Network Live Statistics: NCAA.com Twitter Updates: @MercerFootball

GAME NOTES (PDF)
Mercer	Gardner-Webb	Southern Conference

TICKETS
Tickets are still available for Saturday's game, and can be purchased for $20 (all seats) by visiting MercerBears.com/Playoffs.

MERCER/GARDNER-WEBB SERIES
Saturday's matchup will mark just the second meeting all-time between the Bears and the Runnin' Bulldogs, but it will also be the second matchup between the two squads in just less than 14 months. The Bears scored touchdowns on their first three drives of the afternoon, as well as picked off three different quarterbacks, on the way to a 45-14 victory over Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs, N.C., on Sept. 24, 2022.

SCOUTING GARDNER-WEBB
Gardner-Webb will tote the nation's 15th-best rushing defense into Macon on Saturday, while also riding a 5-game win streak. The Runnin' Bulldogs are in the NCAA postseason for the second-straight year after capturing a share of the Big South-OVC association's automatic bid by virtue of a head-to-head tiebreaker with UT Martin. Gardner-Webb split two games in last season's FCS Playoffs, including a first-round victory (52-41) at Eastern Kentucky.


MERCER AT FIVE STAR STADIUM
Mercer is 42-20 (.677) all-time in Five Star Stadium, including a 16-4 (.800) mark at home under head coach Drew Cronic. The Bears have posted 4-1 marks inside their home stadium in each of the last four regular seasons, and have now captured 10 of their last 12 games at home following a Week 11 win over Samford. Mercer won all eight of its home games during its inaugural season at Five Star Stadium in 2013, and have since registered seven more winning seasons at home, including the current campaign.

DEFENSE STILL ROLLING
Following Saturday's defensive effort at The Citadel that produced a trio of turnovers, Mercer's stop unit has now collected 17 takeaways since its Week 4 loss at nationally-ranked Furman (seven games), including a baker's dozen over the last four outings for the Bears. Four of Mercer's 13 turnovers over the last four weeks have been returned for touchdowns, including a pick-6 in consecutive matchups with Wofford, Western Carolina and The Citadel. Mercer's six forced turnovers in the upset win at then-No. 10 Western Carolina on October 28 fell just one takeaway shy of a 10-year-old school record.

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